UCF Boot Camps Reviews
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Matt Hutson
Digital Marketing
I have been apart of a few boot camps but this one has been by far the most enjoyable, professional, educational and well rounded learning experience of them all. I highly enjoyed the platform, ease of use and direct learning environment. The educators are phenomenal, calling out Naz, Kayla and Chad.Boot Camp Team of UCF Boot Camps
Community Team
Jun 06, 2022
Fantastic, Matt! We're thrilled you had a positive boot camp experience and couldn't agree more that Naz, Kayla and Chad are all pretty amazing at what they do. Congratulations on graduating! We appreciate your review and best of luck in all your future endeavors. -
Alex Widener
Full Stack Flex Coding Bootcamp
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I was originally a middle school band teacher that left during COVID to make a career change based on poor work conditions and pay. I started out self-taught using freeCodeCamp and The Odin Project, but decided I needed more structure in my learning process and chose the UCF Full-Stack Flex Coding Bootcamp based on the reviews and feedback I had found online. The camp was 100% remote on Zoom due to the COVID pandemic.
Note: My self taught experience helped tremendously with the first month of the bootcamp, and I would recommend those two resources whenever you sign up and begin preparing for the camp.
The bootcamp was a great experience and taught me a lot of what I needed to know at an accelerated pace. The homework's and group projects were great learning experiences that helped me code efficiently and with a deadline in mind. Having the ability to ask questions and receive feedback on my work was invaluable and helped me know whether I was on the right track or not in my ability to "think like a coder". I learned technologies like: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, React, Node.js, Express, MongoDB, MySQL. The first month was focused on HTML, CSS and JavaScript, the second expanded on JavaScript and added in databases, and the third month heavily focused on more JavaScript and React. Focus on JavaScript when preparing for the bootcamp. After the first few weeks, you really won't touch HTML or CSS much, but having a foundation in those languages is critical.
My instructors and TA's were great. They were always enthusiastic and would take on any question that I asked, or guide me towards finding the answer myself. The office hours before and after class were great to ask questions on topics that I didn't fully grasp, but was also most beneficial to ask questions about entering the workforce and what types of tasks I would be completing as a Junior Developer. This is also where the staff learns more about you, which really helped whenever I would ask questions later in the course -- they knew where I was coming from and didn't have to guess where I was in the learning process.
My biggest piece of advice for anyone considering joining the bootcamp is to take it 100% seriously. Signing up for a coding bootcamp is not like signing up for grade school. Although there are grades and due dates, it is more important to focus on the quality of your work and how thorough you are with your assignments -- not just writing code itself, but formatting your work, descriptive comments, and thorough readmes. It is not worth "just getting the answer" or "getting a good grade" -- it is much more important that you find the answer yourself through Googling and reading documentation and achieving understanding on the fundamentals.
If you are considering the full-time course over the part-time course, I recommend absolutely committing yourself to the camp for the 3 months, and cutting out things that will take you away from learning and practicing code. Students who missed class or went on vacation felt severely behind and were playing "catch-up" until the last day of class. Yes, you have 5 absences, but it's best not to use a single one if possible. Personally, I missed out on quite a few family events, and would have to tell family and friends "no" more than I would ever like to again. But now that it is over, I feel that it was completely worth it to engross myself in learning and my family and friends understood that.
If you choose to apply for the bootcamp, there is pre-work that walks you through setting up a web development environment on your computer and creating a basic website. Please do this before the first day of class. One, it will make your life easier and you will not struggle as many students did in the first week, but it will also make the lives of the instructional staff easier and your class will operate smoothly. In my cohort, a good percentage did not complete it before the first day which led to a frustrating first week. Don't be that person, and help your classmates by being prepared.
Please note that bootcamps are not for everyone, although I believe anyone can become a web developer. It takes time, dedication, and the motivation to learn and create. If you typically give up on a task after one or two tries, web development most likely isn't the right path for you. Many people come to bootcamps because they want to change their life, just like I did. That takes sacrifice and the willpower to push through even when you feel defeated. A job will not be handed to you after the bootcamp. If you take the camp seriously, and do your absolute best on every assignment and project, you will have most of the skills to begin applying for jobs. You will still need to work on personal projects and improve your ability to solve algorithms, interview questions, etc.
I hope this review was helpful! It is the review I wish I saw when looking for bootcamps. If you are wanting to apply, I say go for it! Anyone can code, anyone can become a web developer, anyone can have a second chance at changing their life. It will take hard work and dedication, but if I can do it, so can you.Boot Camp Team of UCF Boot Camps
Community Team
Mar 18, 2022
Amazing, Alex! Thank you for choosing our program to make a significant career change. We're happy to hear our online format was delivered successfully. Great advice for prospective participants — doing the pre-work beforehand and studying up on some topics can truly help you stay ahead. Our entire boot camp team is passionate about enabling student success so we're glad this resonated with you. Like you noted, this is a fast-paced and rigorous course so making sure you're dedicated to your studies is incredibly important. Congratulations on successfully completing the program and thank you for your review! We wish you all the best moving forward. -
Rachel LaQuea
Full Stack Flex Web Development
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This was a full stack web development track with an emphasis on front end Javascript. The course included several technologies & concepts such as HTML/CSS, JQuery, MERN, GraphQL, SQL, Object oriented programming, model view controller, progressive web applications, Object–relational mapping & React. Since recently graduating, I've begun the process of reviewing all of the information covered in the last 3 months and I am in awe of just how much there was and still is to learn!
I would highly recommend this course, but if I had to do it over again and had more time, I may have chosen to complete the part time track instead of full time. It's impossible to absorb everything in such a short amount of time, but the exposure to high level projects was an incredible experience anyway. There were definitely challenges though, much of which was because our cohort was completely remote. I thrive with social interaction, and it was more challenging for me to communicate and ask for help while we were virtual. While this was not the university's burden, it was a huge added challenge for me personally. As far as the curriculum, I would have preferred instead of using the technology, Handlebars.js, that we were given extra time with React. This was something that I struggled with, and finding out that it's not often used in the field was disappointing because I worked hard to try to understand how to use it. Also, this is of course a challenge with the time constraints, but I would have also benefited from a more in-depth introduction to logical & programmatic thinking. These skills were developed along the way, but I could have used a stronger foundation in the beginning of the course.
Next, I would like to commend my instructor, John Dinsmore, my TA, Dan Rosenbaum, student success manager, Gemini Sanford, & my tutor, Robby Kurle. John provided a fun and interesting way for us to learn, keeping things lighthearted and engaging, while teaching tough and in-depth material. Dan was very approachable and always available for help, questions and always with a kind demeanor, which helped me to feel comfortable and supported. Gemini was very responsive with any questions and concerns I had, and responded with positivity, even if I had issues that needed to be addressed. Finally, without Robby's help I would have struggled tremendously in the course. He went above and beyond to help me when I was stressed out and trying to understand high-level concepts and finish assignments and kept me laughing during every session.
For students seriously considering a career in programming and/or web development, with the time to commit to it and who are willing to put in a ton of hard work, they will not be disappointed. I grew tremendously through this process and completed projects and gained knowledge I never thought possible.Boot Camp Team of UCF Boot Camps
Community Team
Sep 17, 2021
We appreciate your review, Rachel! We're glad to hear you benefited from the course material and learned a wide range of new technologies. It's our goal to provide a beneficial learning experience for all of our students and we are constantly optimizing our curriculum in order to best prepare individuals for the challenging nature of the program so we appreciate your input.
Like you noted, our classes are now conducted online for the health and safety of all learners. This transition does require some adjustments and understand that not all virtual teaching styles will resonate with every individual. Our priority has always been to enable student success both inside and outside of the classroom and feedback like yours helps us do just that.
Our entire boot camp team is truly passionate about what they do so we're truly glad this resonated with you and couldn't agree more that John, Dan, Gemini, and Robby are all fantastic.
Congratulations on graduating, we wish you all the best moving forward! -
Curtis
Challenge excepted!
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This course has been one of the most challenging and life changing experiences I've had. The challenge: in order to get the most out of this boot camp, you must be willing to put in an immense amount of time and effort. Learning these new concepts requires that you push through frustration, distraction, and doubt while continuing to make tiny improvements that add up over time. The reward: when you finally start to understand a concept, there is no better feeling in the world. Once you write a bit of code using logic you didn't understand a week ago and it works, there is a flood of blissful elation that washes over you. Not to mention the possibility of gaining a lifelong career with endless growth potential and the ability to work remotely.Boot Camp Team of UCF Boot Camps
Community Team
Jun 16, 2020
Way to go, Curtis! It's great to hear you had such a life-changing boot camp experience. Great advice for prospective candidates — in order to truly succeed in the program you must be willing to dedicate extensive hours both inside and outside of the classroom. As such, we commend all your hard work and commitment. We appreciate your review and wish you all the success moving forward! -
Wadih Ojeil
You changed my life !
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When I joined the boot camp I had no background in coding What So Ever ! I decided it was time for a career change. My brother kept pushing me to look into coding boot camps. While I was researching, I saw UCF had their own boot camp partnered with Trilogy. I then got this gut feeling that this is the one for me. I put my trust in UCF in the past for my Bachelor's Degree and it paid off pretty well.
Day 1, I started class with minor knowledge due to the 40/hr pre-work that I had to complete prior to beginning this long journey. I invested lots of money and had some doubts..."three months?" Here I am today looking back and laughing about how I felt with no regrets what so ever. I was blessed to have an amazing support staff. My instructor John was super fun while he was teaching. He made the courses applicable and easy to learn. Jorge, my TA was just as amazing. He put all his time assisting us and prepping projects for us before during and even after classes with John. The career services team did not leave us and swarmed us with workshops and resources to help us reach success post graduation. The most important chess piece is YOU. If you dedicate your time and prioritize the boot camp over everything, you will succeed! Complete your assignments, utilize all the resources that they offer and DON'T give up!
You will get back in knowledge and experience what you <input/>. This Boot Camp changed my whole course in life. I am proud to say I am a Full Stack Web Developer. We have been trained to learn how to learn knew Technologies. My horizon in this field is limitless and I can handle my own like a pro!
Thank You UCF!
Thank You Trilogy!
Jodi, John, Jorge and Tameka you are the best ! I can not express how thankful I am!
Boot Camp Team of UCF Boot Camps
Community Team
Jun 07, 2020
Amazing, Wadih! Thank you for choosing our boot camp to learn the fundamentals of full-stack web development. We're happy to hear you had a positive student experience and benefited from the support of our entire team.
We're truly passionate about what we do, so we're thrilled this resonated with you. We also have to agree that Jodi, John, Jorge, and Tameka are all pretty fantastic. Great advice for prospective candidates — if you dedicate your time and utilize all the available resources, you can definitely excel in the course.
Congratulations on graduating, we truly appreciate your review! Best of luck as you embark on a new journey. -
Samantha Denis
My Very Honest Boot Camp Review
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I came into this coding boot camp with no prior tech experience but some freeCodeCamp I did prior to registering for the course. It is a very fast-paced, rigorous course and something I will definitely say is, have a solid foundation in vanilla JavaScript before even stepping foot in this program. Seriously, if you don’t know JavaScript then you will struggle the entire course. I recommend going through the freeCodeCamp JavaScript modules, as well as the paid course by Wes Bos that focuses on JavaScript fundamentals. Every other language you learn after JavaScript will be building upon/very similar in concept to it. If you do that, you’re good to go. It’s also extremely easy to fall behind in the course if you have a lot going on outside of class- me personally, I was dealing with a lot of things in my personal life that hindered my ability to focus during class. Make sure you take care of those things and place your energy on what is most important, which is your ability to master the curriculum and graduate. Also, reach out for help with homeworks from your TA’s and instructor; they will be more than happy to run you through what you need to do. They won’t do the coding for you, but they will guide you in the right direction. Take advantage of office hours and Slack messaging! And if you feel like you are falling behind in the course and certain topics are difficult to conquer, reach out to your instructional staff. They are only there to help you, that’s what they’re getting paid to do. You are never a burden, and if they see you are serious, they will go the extra mile to help you. I had Evan Klemen as my teacher, he was awesome and I’d recommend him. Also, Jennifer Ross helped me so much to break down concepts that didn’t make sense to me. Thank you! I will be graduating in June, but I wanted to go ahead and write my review, as I felt it will be helpful for anyone who is interested in making the switch to coding. I dropped out of college for this boot camp, I’ve always loved tech and I thought being a woman in tech would be an awesome achievement. I’m planning on freelancing after graduation and continuing to build my portfolio. When I feel ready, I will begin to apply for full-time work. I hope this review helps someone who is on the verge of signing up for this program! Just know your JavaScript, reduce distractions, invest time in practicing coding, reach out when you need help, and the rest will fall into place. Coding is such a useful skill that many individuals do not know how to execute, so they hire people who are logical and creative to get the job done for them. You got this! Believe in yourself, and before you know it, you’ll be a graduate, too! Also, shoutout to my brother Dimitri Denis who is in the Orlando area and graduated from UCF with his bachelor’s degree in digital media and interactive systems- he has a few friends who took the course as well and said it was great, so that’s how I discovered this program. You won’t regret it if you do your part regarding coding, coding and coding.Boot Camp Team of UCF Boot Camps
Community Team
Jun 01, 2020
Thank you for sharing your boot camp experience, Samantha! We're thrilled you felt challenged and successfully learned the fundamentals of full-stack web development.
Like you mentioned, this program will require extensive hours both inside and outside of the classroom to master the concepts covered. We appreciate your advice to prospective students and completely agree that reducing distractions, constantly practicing, and reaching out to the instructional team will definitely help you excel.
Congratulations on graduating, we commend all your hard work! All the best in your future endeavors. -
Ed C
Great experience - well worth it
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I was looking to make a career change and had thought about boot camps for the past several year. I didn’t have a coding background but was interested in it. Before deciding to enroll in UCF’s Web Development boot camp, I read a lot of opinions online about whether a boot camp was worth the money or is it better to study on your own. I’d had a friend who did the same program in Washington, DC, who enjoyed i. For me, having a solid structure, a quality instructor and TAs, classmates and constant assignments and projects made the boot camp the best option.
I did the full-time (12-week) course because I wanted to focus solely on learning web development and get into my new career field as soon as possible. It was incredibly fast-paced and several times I thought I wasn’t going to be able to learn it well enough, but it’s really neat to look back a few months later and see all that I accomplished. You have to give it everything you have, but if you do, you will learn a ton and leave the program with quality projects that will help you land interviews and secure your first job. But again, you have to work for it.
The curriculum was excellent, but more than that for me was the support of my instructor, TAs and classmates. If I was learning this on my own, I wouldn’t have made it. John, my instructor, was not only really knowledgeable about the material, but he was a great motivator. He’d often give us pep talks to keep going, that things would eventually click if we just kept working hard. Those pep talks kept me hopeful and moving forward when I was frustrated or discouraged. I had decided he was the expert, and I had to trust him. I’m so glad I did. Even after the class, John has been a great resource to talk to about job offers, etc.
The TAs were really knowledgeable and did a great job of giving you a boost when you were truly stuck but not just giving you answers - they made you work for it. And it helps to have classmates where you’re all in the battle together and you can commiserate when it’s rough and celebrate when you have success.
The career services was helpful initially as far as getting your resume, LinkedIn ready for applying to jobs. My initial career services contact seemed disinterested, and my first phone conversation felt like a waste of time. She moved on, however, and her replacement Deanna was excellent. I actually was not going to worry about doing anything with career services once I finished the course, but Deanna reached out to me a few times, and we ended up checking in every two weeks during my job hunt. It was helpful to talk with someone about the career steps I’d taken the past two weeks and be reassured that I was doing the right things and would eventually find the right position.
Within a week of completing the boot camp, I had received a job offer in web development but decided I wanted a culture that was a better fit and kept looking. It took another two months of diligent job searching, but I eventually was offered an entry level position that is a great fit for me. This is after having no coding experience six months prior.
I highly recommend the boot camp but just know it’s going to be a lot of work and you’re going to have to sacrifice a lot to learn enough to get that first job. It’s not easy, but it’s definitely worth it.
Boot Camp Team of UCF Boot Camps
Community Team
Apr 19, 2019
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Ed! We're happy to hear you enjoyed the curriculum and felt supported by your classmates and our entire boot camp team. We also think John and Deanna are amazing. We appreciate the advice you shared with prospective students—it's not easy, but it’s definitely worth it. Congratulations on graduating and starting an exciting new role! We are cheering you on in all your coding endeavors. -
Shahar
Great instructors, not so great company
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So let's start with the awesome stuff- the teaching team I had was awesome- our lead instructor, John, was amazing and really did everything he could for us to get jobs and learn the material. He was approachable, he was good at his job, he was knowledgable, and he really had a passion for teaching. Likewise, the TAs were excellent- Tamara and Mark did everything possible to help anyone- even if it was just being a sounding board or being available all throughout the weekend to help with homework. Teaching staff- awesome.
My problem is with everything else honestly- I feel like this "bootcamp" wasn't really used to it's full potential. When I signed up there seemed to be some sort of evaluation process, but ultimately when I got to class, it was obvious they jus let anyone in- this slowed down the class, and while I feel like I got a lot, I feel I would've gotten way more had it not been for people who honestly didn't care enough to do the hard work or were just not cut out for the job.
My deepest disapointments with the company managing the bootcamp though (it's not managed by UCF, which they only tell you after you start), were the managment and the "career services".
Career services was a joke- it felt like a tacked on fig leaf that the company added because other bootcamps offer it. They would send out "career advice" you can find on google easily and have useless Zoom sessions on Friday nights or during class. John the instructor actually did way more for us in terms of career services (even though that wasn't his job, setting up mock interviews, and even meetups so we can network more easily.
Then there's managment- the first thing that seemed iffy to me was that our Student Success Manager was a student only two cohorts ago, she became a TA and then an SSM within about 6 months- doesn't reek of confidence. I would habitually write long reviews about what I though could improve in the class in our weekly surveys, and never got any replys or notices any changes. One time, after a major incident I will elaborate on later, I had a belly full to say about it but all I wrote was that the surveys felt like shouting into the void so I wasn't going to spend my time. This was the first time I recieved any sort of comment on my survey replys, which seemed rather odd- basically all the constructive critisism is useless but only saying I think you're not doing your job prompts a "let's have chat about how you feel?".
The incident, which probably pissed me off more than it should've, happened in the last third of the class, I think. For the entire course of the class the tone in class was very casual, with some swearing and innapropriate jokes. I don't feel like anything was out of line and anyone was harrased, and honestly most tech companies I had worked with (I have been in the tech scene for about 10 years) had a similar tone, if not cruder. Some of the joking was made during the showcase for our second projects, when one of the projects, a mad-libs app, was shown. Now, there were like two potential employers in the room, who were invited without lewtting us know mind you. Apperently that, combined with the conversational tone we've had in class and on Slack combined with a (pretty tame) meme I had made and posted on said Slack required an official reprimand. It started with the SSM, who for the entire time she was sitting in on the project demos was disrespectfully on her computer, calling us an embarasment. and continued with John, who seemed uncomftrable and like he was made to do this, saying we were stupid, immature, and this will not be tolerated, and then taking responsability for the casual tone we had in class.
This enraged me. If you feel the tone is too conversational- that's fine, come out and say "guys, you're being a little innapropriate let's tone it down". But I don't feel immature, I don't feel stupid, I've had professional high paying corporate jobs, I've sat across the table from C and V level executives at major companies- and they all speak that way and they all like to have a good laugh, specifically internally within teams. Calling us an embarassment was a tone def move that mis understood the point of the class- either to teach things in the easiest way possible- making a comftrable enviroment being part of it, or preparing us for tech life- which is totally as innapropriate. I think it was completelty misshandled and we were treated as elementary school kids must less adult, paying, customers.
I can keep going but you get the picture- overall- amazing instructor and TAs, tone def company that does the minumum it feels is required from it.
Boot Camp Team of UCF Boot Camps
Community Team
Jul 10, 2018
Hi Shahar, thank you for taking the time to share your personal experience. We are glad to hear you constantly felt supported by your instructor and TAs - we also think John, Tamara, and Mark are pretty amazing! We strive to foster a collaborative environment among students and do include an admissions screening process to make sure that those individuals who enroll in this course are truly committed to their success. We understand you would have preferred more involved classmates, however, our mission is to help as many hard-working, aspiring web developers as we can, across a wide range of varying proficiency levels.
We regret the management portion of the boot camp did not meet your expectations. The UCF Division of Continuing Education has partnered with Trilogy Education Services (TES) to develop the UCF Coding Boot Camp. TES is the leading workforce accelerator in the United States and is partnered with more than 35 top universities to support their skills-based learning program efforts. We strive to be transparent about this partnership by noting it on our website and during the admissions process. Both UCF Coding Boot Camp and TES are extremely passionate about enabling student success.
Our Student Success Managers (SSMs) work hard to ensure every student feels valued and supported throughout every step of the way. On the first day of class, your SSM introduced herself as having been a former graduate of the boot camp, in an attempt to connect with and reassure students of the potential challenges they could encounter in the weeks to come. In addition to the 13 years of experience as a freelance web developer, your SSM also had several contributions to the Open Source community prior to attending the course. We take student feedback seriously and are aware that your SSM continually reviewed all provided feedback, as well as implemented any necessary cohort changes. We understand your SSM did share numbers of recent commitments to the full-stack repo and sincerely hope you found these to be helpful, however, we are constantly working on improving our responsiveness to ensure students are being heard - so we appreciate you sharing this insight.
We seek to empower our students and foster a real sense of community in a relaxed, yet still respectful and appropriate environment for all, regardless of age or prior experience. During your cohort's second project, our team, including your instructor, noticed a lack of professionalism that was evident in the conversational classroom tone you mentioned. Both your instructor and SSM acknowledged the change in classroom culture, and we can confidently say that while effort was made to make students aware of the need for more professionalism, no demeaning or insulting language was used toward the students. The instructor's sentiment about a lack of professionalism was purely toward the classroom culture and the need to make a change, and not reflective of nor directed at the students personally. We apologize for any miscommunication in this regard. While we are aware of certain industry norms that are prevalent in the workforce, as an institution of higher learning comprised of people of all backgrounds and personalities, we strive for courteous and positive classroom behavior, one that individuals can carry with them into their own job roles. We regret the incident proceeded to this extent, but do believe our team was looking out on behalf of the entire cohort's benefit. We are constantly striving to ensure our students have the necessary support and camaraderie they need to be successful, both during and following the boot camp, so we thank you for this feedback.
We know the amount of hard work and dedication this immersive course requires and commend you for all your achievements. At this time, we would welcome the opportunity to speak with you directly to learn how else we can support you at this time. If you would like, please reach out to us directly at (407) 454-9823. Congratulations on graduating and we wish you great success going forward! -
Monica N
Intellectually Rewarding & Awesome Experience
The cirriculum of the course was very good. I learned so much throughout this program and was promptly able to apply it to my current job as I went through the course. The support provided in the cource from the instructor to the TAs was exceptional. The carrer services however I felt could've been better and more active during the course.
Jodi Diehl of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
Jun 22, 2018
Congratulations on completing the course, Monica! We are thrilled you had such a positive experience learning robust web development skills that you were able to apply to your current job role - amazing! We’re happy to hear you enjoyed the curriculum, our instructors, and TAs.
We designed our current career services around previous feedback we received indicating that students would generally prefer to have their support come later, once they've settled into the rigorous course material. This approach made sense as students would also have had enough experience with their new skills to begin the job search utilizing our career-ready tools. That being said, we also try to integrate our professional development services where possible throughout the program with flexible and optional online events, Project Demo Days, behavioral interview training, technical interview training in the classroom or office hours, and several important milestone training sessions that will build a foundation for establishing an individual's career. This is all part of our career services but based on your feedback, we believe we should be better at explaining how and why we support our students the way we do. We are constantly refining our career services to best position students for success, and feedback like yours helps us to do that. We truly appreciate your review and wish you the best of luck in all your future achievements! -
Moises Reyes
Full Stack Developer
Coding boot campJodi Diehl of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
May 29, 2018
Thank you for your review Moises! We’re glad to see you had an overall positive boot camp experience. -
Melanie West
Awesome Experience
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I'm going to start by saying I don't know how to compare my boot camp to others, since I only attended my own and I haven't taught or assisted any others.
I can say I consider it a good experience overall. The curriculum was well designed and the pace kept enough pressure to keep you from disengaging or slacking. The staff was well chosen and we had support and encouragement come from a lot of different directions. We were well supplied with videos and resources to help us. We did have some glitches with staff change or staff vacations, but those in charge kept us covered with good people all the way through.
Jodi Diehl of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
May 24, 2018
Thank you for taking the time to leave us your review, Melanie! We are happy to hear you had an overall positive experience and that our curriculum was well designed, continually keeping you engaged. We're passionate about what we do and are thrilled you felt supported and encouraged by our entire staff all the way through. Congratulations on graduating! We applaud you for all of the long hours and commitment you put into the course and wish you the best of luck in your future achievements. -
Jacob Luft
UCF Coding Bootcamp Review
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I recently finished the 6-month part-time full stack dev course at the Lake Mary/Sanford campus. The primary question somebody would have (that I had) was "Is this for me?" I will try to answer that with the following use case examples:
Currently working in software development but not in a technical role: (This is myself since I've been a product manager for 10+ years.) Taking this class has already benefitted me greatly in my day-to-day duties as a product manager. I would recommend it for anyone in a similar role. Understanding what your dev team is doing and is capable of doing and being able to have more productive meetings will make you a better product or project manager. Your skills set will be more desireable in the marketplace.
Computer Science Student or recent grad: Definitely worth taking this class. From what I've been told the C.S. degree work is heavy on theory but not so much on coding especially in modern cutting-edge languages. Many of the TAs were computer science students who graduated from the bootcamp.
Looking for a career change: Much of the class is comprised of this use case. Definitely take some online tutorials on codecademy and whatever else you can find to see if you even like coding at all. It's probably not anything like you imagined it to be (it wasn't for me at least). If you find that you enjoy the challenge then go for it.
I got exactly what I was hoping to get from the UCF coding bootcamp and more. The instruction and support are outstanding. On the admin side Ricky and Jodi are your pillars to lean on so use them. I can't say enough about the high quality of my instructor (Howard Salter) or our TAs. This is crucial: Take advantage of the FREE weekly 1-on-1 tutoring. It's free and it helps to have someone to talk it out with. Even with all the help you will have to do much of the learning on your own; learning how to teach myself new material is the key thing you will learn in this class. At least it was for me.
Jodi Diehl of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
May 23, 2018
Thank you for your review, Jacob! It's great to know our market-based curriculum taught you valuable coding skills that were helpful in your current job role. Like you mentioned, this course is a comprehensive learning experience benefiting individuals across a wide range of proficiency levels, ranging from those who may have more experience to novice self-starters who are seeking a career change.
Our entire staff is incredibly passionate about education and we couldn't agree more that Ricky, Howard and the whole team are all pretty amazing! We're thrilled you utilized our free tutoring and put in the necessary additional time outside of class learning the course material, as we pride ourselves on teaching students how to problem-solve and self-teach, a key developer skill. Congratulations on graduating and we wish you all the success going forward! -
Brian Elliston
Mr.
Had a great experience with UCF bootcamp. It was very challenging and in retrospect I would have preferred the part time course as I had little to no experience before beginning the course. It moves very fast!! The staff was outstanding and very helpful!!
Jodi Diehl of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
May 22, 2018
Congratulations on completing the program, Brian! We’re thrilled to hear you had such a positive experience. Like you mentioned, this is a fast-paced and challenging course, so we do want to commend you for all of the long hours and hard work you put in during this boot camp journey - it's not easy but definitely worth it. We are thrilled our team members were supportive, as we also think they are outstanding! Thank you for your review, we wish you all the best in your future endeavors! -
Arumita De
Highly recommended !
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I attended the UCF Coding Bootcamp from January to July 2017.
I came to the bootcamp after 12 years of being a mom and homemaker, and although I was from a technical background, such a long time of being out of touch had made me practically a novice.
The course work is very challenging but if you are diligent, you can surely be successful. It equips you with a lot of latest technologies, but most importantly it teaches you the skill to learn and grasp new things. It instills that confidence in you.
My instructors were extremely helpful and knowledgeable. No question was ever left unanswered and they had unending patience. Our TA's were always by our side, helping us when we were stuck, troubleshooting, but most importantly, pointing us in the right direction, enabling us to figure out things by ourselves. They even conducted extra study groups, so that we had all the support we needed.
I made awesome friends at bootcamp. The work was intense, but there was a team spirit that is so very encouraging. The group projects helped me during my interview process. The group presentations taught me proper techniques to showcase my work.
Our Career Director Amber is simply superb. She is very intelligent, patient, perseverant and knowledgeable. She analyses each candidate individually and her suggestions are tailor made accordingly. She was always available when I needed her and always extremely encouraging. Her energy is infectious :)
Ricky, our student success manager is a great motivator and always ready to help.
I felt like I was a part of a big family and that they always had my back.
Immediately after I finished my bootcamp I had to take a 2 month break due to personal reasons. But when I was ready to start looking, the whole team was right there beside me, and I got a job offer within a month.
One of the best educational experiences of my life and highly recommended !!
Ricky Cuellar of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
Jan 02, 2018
Hi Arumita,
We really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with UCF Coding Boot Camp. We love reading feedback like this, and knowing that this program has made such a positive impact on your career makes all of our hard work worthwhile.
As you mention, this course can be challenging and we applaud your dedication. We're thrilled to hear that you enjoyed our curriculum, course structure, and networking with your classmates. Also, it makes us incredibly proud of our team to know that as a whole, we have provided you with the guidance and support you needed to be successful in this program and beyond.
Congratulations on completing the program and receiving an offer of employment. We're wishing you continued success as you move forward in your career. -
Ash
Great course but abysmal career help
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If all you are looking for is a solid base knowledge of full stack development, I have nothing but good things to say for the instructors and TAs of this program. They were all knowledgeable and helpful in every aspect of the course. They were all invested in helping you grow and make you into the best developer you can be. They encouraged you to learn and pushed you further than you thought you could go. A wonderful experience.
Now for the bad side, if you are looking to get a job right after completing this course then I suggest that you look elsewhere or at start with some free learning on other sites. The career services give you basic tips on pushing your resumes, hokey advice for researching interviewing advice and the majority of career advisors seem to have the wrong personalities for someone whose job it is to get jobs for dozens of people. Anything I have gotten after the course was completely from my own efforts.
I wish this program could've been everything I wanted it to be but sadly it fell completely flat on the career side and soured the experience of a solidly designed course.Ricky Cuellar of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
Sep 13, 2017
Thank you for your feedback, Ash. We’re truly glad to hear you had such a positive experience learning valuable skills through our program. We work hard to select instructors and TAs that are passionate about helping our students achieve success. It makes us very proud to know that our team was able to provide you, not only with the required skills, but also with extensive encouragement and support throughout your journey.
Our career services are built on the principle of empowerment. While we do not secure direct employment for our students, we empower them the best we can with the necessary tools and support for entering the job market. Our team strives to be clear about the scope of our career services from the beginning so that our students understand how they can get the most out of this aspect of the program. We understand that your cohort did receive career support including an invitation to a company tour at Accesso, two employer-attended demo days, six in-class guest speaker events, one-on-one career coaching, portfolio reviews, as well as resume help that included introductions to prospective employers. Did you find these events helpful?
We would love to speak with you to address your concerns further and provide any additional career planning assistance you need at this time. A 100% positive student experience is our number one priority, so your feedback is crucial to those efforts. Please contact me directly at (407) 454-9823 so that we can discuss how to best equip you for success as you go forward. -
Luis Hernandez
Amazing course and the instructors were even better
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Took the full-time class starting in May and just finished in August. All I have to say is that it's intense, yet very very rewarding. The full-time curriculum went by rather quickly but Bob, Josh and Justin did an excellent job in explaining key concepts and provided guidance along the course. Bob is a knowledgeable and interactive instructor. He kept us engaged and made seemingly boring information very interesting. Both Josh and Justin did a great job in helping us out with projects, homework assignments, answering questions and explaining information. This course is a lot of work and your success is dependant on your work and your efforts. Give it 110% of effort, ask questions, stay motivated and you'll reap the rewards. Go for it. It's an amazing experience.Ricky Cuellar of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
Sep 13, 2017
Hi Luis,
Congratulations on completing the program! It’s fantastic that you had such a positive experience in this course. It makes us incredibly proud of our team to hear that your instructor and TAs worked so hard to provide you and your classmates with the guidance you needed during your boot camp journey.
As you mention, this course can require students to commit both time and effort to completing assignments, reviewing material, and practicing their skills in order to learn these valuable new skills. This is an excellent insight for future students. We hope you’re proud of the hard work you put into completing this program. We’re cheering you on as you move forward in your career. -
John Davis
Life Changing
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I recently graduated from the UCF full stack coding boot camp in August. This boot camp literally changed my life, I had no coding experience before I attended this camp and was very nervous coming in. Reading the curriculum was very nerve wracking for me as I had no clue what most of these terms and "languages" were. But going in to the first day, my AMAZING instructor Bob and his TAs assured us all that we are in this together and will learn step by step. They make sure nobody gets left behind, but I do want to say one thing about getting the most out of this program. The TAs can only do so much for you, and can not always be right by your side for each assignment and homework. You have to put in the extra time and work outside of class. You can not just go home and start watching tv and forget about programming. You have to go home, do more research and practice, practice, practice. If you do that throughout the camp you will come out as one of the top developers in your class and be fully job ready for the real world. It is not an easy course, but it is not impossible either, it is an amazing opportunity that I would recommend to anybody interested in the tech industry.
Ricky Cuellar of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
Sep 13, 2017
Congratulations on completing the program, John! We’re thrilled to hear that you had such a positive experience in this course. It is our mission to help students change their careers and lives through skills-based education, so we love reading feedback like this.
We know the importance of quality instruction, and work hard to select instructional team members that are experienced and passionate about student success. We’re glad that your instructor and TAs were so dedicated in providing you and your classmates with the support that you needed during your journey.
As you mention, students must expect to dedicate time and effort to this course in order to get the most out of the boot camp experience. This is excellent advice for future students, and we really appreciate your feedback. We hope your proud of all the hard work you put into completing this course, and we’re wishing you the best of luck in your future endeavors. -
Mtri
Quality Engineer
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I recently graduated from the UCF Full Stack Coding Bootcamp in Aug. 2017. I took one programming class in college 15 years prior but never pursued it much after that. I researched all the different options before signing up and most of the others have gone out of business since then and the reason for that is as follows: From the first day to the last day we were full steam ahead. We covered everything associated with full stack development. Within a couple weeks I knew I was in over my head and asked for help. The T.A.s, the instructor and even the UCF Coordinator swooped in and got me set up with a tutor who was another student in a different program who was further ahead than us. This is what made all the difference. They really did want to see me succeed and help out where they could. They checked in regularly and helped me focus on what I needed to improve. I couldn't be happier with the experience and I do think it was worthwhile. They have a really good partnership with the university and plenty of people rooting for your success. Now its up to me to put it work. In terms of what this bootcamp can offer - they go over everything from HTML, CSS, JavaScript, NodeJS, React, PHP, MySQL, MongoDB, and a few others. If I could recommend one thing it would be to come in humble and ready to learn because the amount of information can be very overwhelming but with a little effort and asking for help this could really change your life for the better. Put in the time and use every resource they offer.
Ricky Cuellar of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
Sep 13, 2017
You rock Mtri! We love reading that you took full advantage of our student support services and resources. We know that learning many complex concepts in an abbreviated time period is difficult, so we work hard to provide our students with ample guidance and assistance in order to best equip them for success. Feedback like this makes all our hard work worthwhile!
It makes us proud to hear that our team, as a whole, worked diligently to provide you with such a positive experience. Congratulations on completing this program, we’re wishing you all the best as you move forward in your career. -
Marcus Hobbs
Absolutely Worth the Tuition
I recently graduated from the UCF Coding Boot Camp in August 2017. I came to the course expecting to learn new skills and to meet other excited software developers. The Boot Camp exceeded my expectations in every way. Bob, Justin, and Josh are all very knowledgeable and extremely motivated to help students engage with the material. Would recommend to anyone seeking to pivot to a new career.
Ricky Cuellar of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
Sep 04, 2017
Congratulations on completing the boot camp, Marcus! We’re glad that you learned a lot from this program, and we really appreciate your review. It makes us proud of our team to hear that they are working hard to help our students learn valuable skills, and change or advance their careers. We wish you nothing but the best moving forward. -
Kelvin Medina
Full Stack Development
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I graduated on August 2017 and I would say it is a pretty great and extensive experience! I was working 40 hours a week throughout the 24-week program in Fort Lauderdale at the time.
I was expecting a lot of challenges and I defintely got more than that. I just wanted to master HTML, CSS, and Javascript and go on my way. I ended up learning much more and studied languages that I never imagined that I would understand the basic concept. If you are looking for a career switch, the instructors and career professionals are committed to helping you get to where you to be. If you are looking for a bootcamp that will add to your skill set, which is what I used it for, this is the perfect course for you.
I wrote an extensive article on what to look out for and what I think is the best way to go about this course. Here is the link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-survive-coding-bootcamp-what-expect-kelvin-medina
Hopefully you decide to take on this challenge! Good luck!Ricky Cuellar of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
Aug 22, 2017
Thank you for your review, Kelvin. We’re so glad that you had a positive experience with this program. It’s wonderful to hear that you were able to complete this program while working full time, as it is designed for working professionals just like you. We’re thrilled that you learned so much, and that our team has demonstrated their true commitment to helping our students succeed.
Your article provides excellent insight for future students, we appreciate you taking the time to write about your journey. Congratulations on completing the program, we’re cheering you on as you move forward. -
Gatlin Rowe
Best decision of my life. besides my wife...
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I was 25 already in a dead end job doing something I did not care about. I wanted a change and have always been very into the idea of programming as a profession and have tried to teach my self it countless times in the past. this Bootcamp came at the right time in my life. with them having multiple locations and times it made it easy to find one that fit my schedule. Once I was in I was hooked. both the professors I delt with on a weekly basis, Dan and Bob, were better than I would ever of hoped for. They truely have a passion not only for programming, but sharing their knowledge with others.
Now it being called a Boot Camp made me prepare for the worst. Even though we met 3 times a week, there is enough work to keep you busy day and night for the whole week, and made it fit the Boot Camp name.
There is an extensive amount of support for learning the challenging topics they cover in the short amount of 6 months. there were a total of 4 TA's, 2 professors, 2 administrative helpers(to answer any job/career, finacial questions you had) all of them available just about 24/7. Always online to chat, and each Friday they would have an open google hangout for about 2 hours, even if no one showed up, just to be available to dive into your code and help you debug any issues you are having.
The languages that were taught are the languages that I now see day to day working in the industry, They even made changes in what languages to teach as they saw the interest of the class shift. no one wanted to learn Java in my class, so they switched it out with more PHP or angular if we wanted to learn that. All tools we used to communicate and submit our work, are the tools used in the industry today to communicate and share work.
Now this class only walks you through the first few languages (HTML,CSS, and some Javascript) and after that really push you to learn how to research and find resources on your own, but if you ever get stuck they were more than happy to take all the time you need to help you get through it.
when I left that class I not only got a great understanding of the main languages used today, but also coding basics that help me adapt and figure out other languages on my own. I have an extensive portfolio, and very detailed and connected LinkedIn profile. I also am still connected with the students, TA's, and Professors of my class and have worked with them on projects. This class is exactly what I needed, when I needed it.
They ended the class with a Demo day, where they invited people from the industry to come look at our projects we had to share. I ended up picking up a programming job on the side while going through the class, and the professors let me make that my Final Project, and gave me great advice of working on client work. they helped me bid out jobs, and come up with a good estimate of how long it would take to make it. At Demo Day I was given about a dozen business cards and 2 job offers.
DISCLAIMER! if you want this to be a cheap college alternative this is not the class for you! this class is an intensive coding BOOT CAMP, there were nights I would go home and be so mentally exausted by the amout of learning and critical thinking that is involved. If you are expecting to be spoon fed you will waste your money and everyones time.
Ricky Cuellar of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
Aug 18, 2017
Thank you so much for your detailed review, Gatlin! We’re so glad that you had such a positive experience with this program. It’s wonderful to hear that this boot camp provided you with the opportunity to change your career path, just as you wanted.
We carefully select our instructors because we know that it’s important to have dedicated, supportive, and passionate real-world programmers guide our students during their boot camp journey. It can be challenging to learn so many concepts in an abbreviated time period, so we love that our team as a whole has provided you with the support you needed during the program.
It’s fantastic to hear that this course taught you coding languages that you now see working in the real-world web development industry, as well as the tools for becoming an adaptable professional. We design our curriculum with the latest market-based skills in mind, so that students exit the program with the knowledge needed to begin a career in web development, today.
Congratulations on receiving two job offers at your Demo Day! We’re thrilled that you received so many benefits from our career services, built an extensive portfolio, and formed valuable connections with instructors and peers from your cohort. Our team works hard everyday to help our students succeed in this program and beyond, so we love reading feedback like this.
As you mention, this program is not intended to replace a traditional college education. It is designed to provide specialized skills-based training for students to begin or advance a career in web development. You make an important point that students should expect to make a true effort, and dedicate time outside of the classroom to practicing and completing assignments. This is an important insight for future students to know.
Congratulations on completing this program, and on all of your success. We wish you the very best in your future endeavors. -
Edwin
Horrible Experience
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I attended this last year for one of the sessions at the Orlando campus. It was a horrible experience. They do a tremendous job marketing this as a life changing experience for those with little to no coding experience, but realistically it's a disaster if you have no previous coding experience.
I had signed for one of the courses that had classes on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons along with Saturday morning with an instructor (Bob) and it was a fiasco. He has no previous teaching experience, so he's not a very good instructor. He knows how to code, but he doesn't know how to teach to code.
The TA's weren't that helpful, as there's a ton of students and there's only a handful of TA's (about 2-3 max per course).
The worst part is that they'll give you excercise and expect you to learn in 5 minutes before they continue along and if you get lost, then hey, you get lost. It doesn't matter to them as they already have your $8,000 (if you sign up early) or $9,500 if you sign up later.
There were people in class with previous coding backgrounds, so they knew a lot, so the instructor would pace the class around them, which as a mess for those of us without that much previous experience.
I got visibly frustrated a lot and one of the instructor (Bob) one day noticed and told me if I felt uncomfortable, to get up and go home if I wanted to as it was only going to get harder... Really?!?! That's the best advice you can give someone who's paid their hard earned money to attend this disaster?
I continually kept in contact with the organizer (Ricky Cuellar) as my reviews of the course continued being negative. Once I informed him I wouldn't be attending anymore, he just sent me the links to the YouTube videos with the excercises and I never heard back from them again, plus I couldn't get a refund as I had already stayed a month hoping I could catch along, but it was impossible the mess they had already made.
Overall, one of the worst experiences of my life. I totally regret handing over $9K of my hard earned money to these people. Avoid at all cost.
Ricky Cuellar of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
Jun 09, 2017
Hi Edwin,
Thank you for sharing your feedback. We know how challenging it can be to learn a new skill and we take your feedback very seriously. We’re sorry that you felt frustrated during your experience with our program. As this is a boot camp, the curriculum is fast-paced and designed to cover multiple concepts in an abbreviated time period.
Many of our students do enter the program with no prior experience in programming, and this is why we provide in-depth pre-course assignments to help get students up to speed. In order to further assist students that are struggling with the coursework, instructors hold in-person and virtual office hours, and are also available via email, Slack, and phone. Our tutor network is also available for additional one-on-one help at no cost.
Throughout our courses, we analyze instructor performance and their levels of engagement in the classroom, providing feedback to help them develop into the best instructors they can be. We vet our instructors carefully, hiring practitioners with a minimum of five years of experience in the field in lieu of traditional professors in order to simulate real-life working environments.
We understand that instructors and students are not always a perfect match, but we do take any concerns raised very seriously. Our instructors work to facilitate a productive and collaborative environment for our students and are cognizant of their students’ progress throughout the course. We sincerely regret that you felt your instructor did not provide satisfactory support and understanding of your frustration. We never want any of our students to feel discouraged from continuing their work in our program and beyond.
After you expressed concerns about your instructor one month into the program, we did work to accommodate your request by switching you into another instructor’s class. We regret that you decided to stop attending classes a few weeks after making the switch. We last spoke on September 14 and we let you know that our team was available should you need anything else, and that still holds true.
We would love to discuss your experience further and would appreciate the opportunity to provide any support that we can at this time to help bolster your success moving forward. You can reach me directly at (407) 454 - 9823. -
Randy S
Terrible Experience
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I was enrolled in the UCF coding bootcamp in February 2017. This is a terrible program. It was very unorganized. You can only get a refund in the first week of classes. They try to keep interested until then. The professor or instructor had no teaching experience. He missing three classes and the first absence did not tell anyone he was not coming. They had to have one of the TA's to teach the course for that day. This all happened in the first month of the course. They use PowerPoints from the previous year to teach the course. The PowerPoint will have the dates of the previous year and for $9500.00, you would think it would be a better experience. The classroom is always hot when we come in. They did not want to turn the AC on earlier to have the class cool when we get in. They said the classroom is expensive and the AC turns on the minute classes start. That is not what you want to hear after paying $9500.00.This course is strictly for beginners with no coding experience at all. The admission process tries to make it seem that admission is difficult or for people with code experience but it's not. I told the admission rep (Kenneth Yee) my coding experience. All he was interested was getting he into the program. When I was not enrolled, he would call me whenever I email him a question. I emailed him with my poor satisfaction and I never got a response. I'm a Computer Science student at FAU and I've already done took a Full-Stack with Udacity, but I did not finish it because I had some persobal issues. I told Kenneth this and it was hard to learn online, but he still did not advise me that I maybe too advance for the bootcamp. WhenI got all the stuff they tried to treach I learn already throung Udacity or through my Computer Sceince major. So, they had no interest in guiding me correctly just want to get student in. This program cost too much money. Udcaity is a lot less and was a better option and they give a refund of 50% if you complete the program UCF does not do anything. Please think about this for a very long time before chosing this coding bootcamp. It's too basic and the markert is there but $9500 it too much. If you want to email r2s112@hotmail.com, I give you my honest opinion. I'm not an advisor or work in the industry..etc, but I want to save people from making the same mistake I did with this program.
Chavon Rodriguez of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
May 17, 2017
Hi Randy, thank you for sharing your feedback. We are disappointed to hear about your experience.
Our program serves a mix of students ranging from those with zero coding experience to computer science students as well as graduates of other boot camps. For this reason, we begin by covering the basics, giving students a solid foundation upon which they will build throughout the program. We start slow and the intensity of our program ramps up to advanced topics very quickly. A key reason our students are successful is because we have a proven methodology for becoming a professional. Each lesson iteratively builds on the last, and there are no shortcuts to focusing on the basics at first.
During your one-on-one session on February 16 (week 2 of the program), we discussed your concerns over the curriculum and its pace. We explained this methodology and how the pace would ramp up quickly. You began classes with us on February 7 and your last day of attending class was March 2. Unfortunately, only experiencing the first four weeks of our 24-week program is not enough to see firsthand how rigorous and in-depth our program becomes once the fundamentals are covered—around week 6 and beyond.
In our March 2 discussion, we talked about the withdrawal and refund policy – noting that students would still be responsible for the remaining tuition and would continue to have access to GitHub, Slack, and the classroom as an “active non-participatory” student. On March 8, we spoke again and you confirmed that you were no longer going to attend and wanted to withdraw entirely.
While our program has an intensive vetting process and requires a minimum of five years’ experience in the field, we continue to monitor instructors to ensure that students are getting the best learning experience possible. We hire active practitioners in lieu of formal professors to best simulate real-life working environments. Still, we understand that not all instructors will meet our expectations or those of all students. In the case of your cohort, the instructor left the program and was replaced by a senior-level TA. Our chief curriculum engineer flew to your classroom to observe the replacement instructor on March 2 and validate that he was qualified and prepared. The feedback we received from the majority of the class was very positive throughout the rest of the program.
Finally, our curriculum is updated frequently to ensure that it is competitive and that we are covering the latest market demands in the region. However, minor errors can happen and some of the digital materials did show the previous year. We are confident that it did not impact the quality of our curriculum or its delivery to the students.
Our team takes feedback seriously and always uses it as a means for improvement. We sincerely wish you would have joined us throughout the duration of the program, allowing you to dive into the complex topics and experience the curriculum that we are immensely proud of. You are encouraged to contact me directly at (954) 900-6057 to discuss your experience further. -
Pedro Sivero
Great value and time well spent
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Enrolling in this boot camp was definitely one of the best decisions that I have made. Before I joined this boot camp I had been trying to learn web development on my own for a few years without much success. The problem was that I didn't know where to start or what I should focus on.
The curriculum is really well structured, and focuses on gradually developing the skills you need as you become more proficient with the technologies that are being taught. There is definitely a lot of material, but it is manageable because you use many of the same technologies again and again and reinforce your understanding until it becomes second nature.
I can confidently say that I have learned 100 times more from the 6 months in this course than my failed attempts of learning on my own. This course was definitely the jump start that I needed to enter a career in the tech industry and connect with people with the same mindset.
Lastly, the support that I received since day one was amazing. Ricky from admissions was very supportive throughout the program. The Teaching Staff and the career director we're very knowledgable as well and were the key to turning my professional ambitions into a reality.
Ricky Cuellar of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
Nov 16, 2016
Thanks for your review, Pedro. Our staff is dedicated to providing an incredible education and world class support to our students, so we're thrilled to read your stellar review of our course. Congratulations on graduation and on your new career. We are proud to have served you over the past 6 months. -
Joshua Cruey
Top Notch Instruction and great program format
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I am a recent graduate of this program and I must say it was a fantastic experience all the way around! The coursework is well structured with clearly defined benchmarks and the curriculum is layed out such that you get a chance to learn the theory, see the code, and then apply that knowledge during hands on coding exercises. When I came into the program I had little to no knowledge of programming and had minimal experience with html and css. In 6 short months I learned the full stack and was able to successfully apply the concepts and knowledge in my final project. In addition to the instruction, the support staff including the teachers assistants, program coordinator, and career director are all easily accessible and are there to provide guidance and support to help you achieve your goals. I had several offers of employment upon graduation and made a huge leap ahead in my career. I highly recommend this program to all!
Ricky Cuellar of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
Oct 17, 2016
Thank you so much, Joshua! We are incredibly happy to hear that your experience was everything that we strive so hard to provide. Congratulations on your hard work, graduation and multiple job offers. We're so proud of you! -
Edna Neal
Incredible amount of support
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I enrolled in the inaugural class of the UCF Boot Camp. It has been the best school experience that I have ever had. I am very proud of what I have accomplished in this boot camp, but I would not have been able to do it in this short of a time without the support of my teachers, TA's and support staff. This boot camp is not easy, but it does give you everything that you need to get a great start to a career as a Full Stack developer. UCF has hired the best developers to teach this class, they have an amazing curriculum and they give you the tools that you need to succeed. Any time that you have a question, you can either ask it on Slack or you can meet with the TA's before or after class to get it figured out.
The development of the curriculum is really top notch, they have it down to a science, this is what you need to know in order to get a job as a developer today. Of course you don't learn everything that there is to know, this is a 6 month course after all, but once you get through it, you will know where to find the answers and how to it out on your own.
All of the staff have so much enthusiasm and help you get through and to realize how much you have accomplished. Throughout the boot camp you will develop applications that you can use for your portfolio, you will work in teams and on your own making applications that will look amazing and then the Career Director will work with you one on one to help you make a plan for your next step and build a resume, enhance your linkedin and how to really show off your portfolio.
The best advice I have for future students in this boot camp is to use all of the services that they provide, you have paid for, use the 1-on-1's with the TA's for help understanding concepts, show up early and work with your fellow students. This boot camp may seem like it will take a long time, but trust me, time flies and you will be graduating before you know it.
Ricky Cuellar of UCF Boot Camps
Student Success Manager
Sep 08, 2016
Hi Edna and big thanks for your review. You have been an incredibly determined and hard working student and we are so proud of your successes. The entire staff here is cheering you on in this next phase of your career. -
Anonymous
The Cybersecurity Defense Certification Bootcamp Program is a Scam
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Not worth your money or timeThe curriculum is outdated, student support standards are low, labs are optional and use old open source operating systems. Instructors are treated poorly especially when it comes to lead instructor assignments to universities. Quality of curriculum is very poor. The ThriveDX learning platform is always down and or intermittent at best. This is a certificate mill. Profits over quality of curriculum and service to students. Do not work there. Do not buy into their programs. Same old slides and their nextgen learning materials are no better. Career services is horrible and comprise of HR people with zero cybersecurity experience who hand out a one page resume “one size fits all” template. Once you graduate, good luck because you are on your own. This entire program is a scam. It is unfortunate that colleges like UCF, University of Chicago, NC State and others are using ThriveDX, formerly HackerU’s one size fits all approach, slide decks and outdated labs to teach because by white labeling the learning materials at these universities, it is deceiving to students looking to pursue a career in cybersecurity. They’re trusting the university brand not realizing it is ThriveDX providing the materials behind the scenes. Buyer beware. -
Anonymous
Challenging, Engaging, Frustrating
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The Full Stack Web Development Bootcamp was a great experience and an extreme amount of knowledge for the value of the course. If you're going into it thinking it's going to be an easy 6 month certificate and boom, you're a pro, that is not necessarily going to be the case. The course is intensive. A lot of assignments, a lot of learning, and a lot of practice. If you're not the type to ask for help, change that prior to going into this course. Don't expect all of your classmates to be as engaged as you though, breakout rooms to work on activities are random and if your class is a large one, it's a coinflip whether you get people who are going to be able to bounce ideas back to you and work through the activity with you vs getting people who have their mics muted, no cameras, and no communication whatsoever leaving you alone in the room. Apart from that, the tutor system is great, the SSM is amazing, and the instructor was amazing. I would recommend it if you can fully commit yourself to this and this alone but not if you have a full time job. -
Anonymous
"Just Google It"
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This course is NOT for anyone with less than 40 hours a week to commit to it. Prepare to spend 75% of that time spinning your wheels getting no where and learning nothing as you skim hundreds of pages of nonsense documentation looking for a simple function that should have been provided to you. The curriculum is full of bugs, typos, misstatements and issues that cause unneeded hang up and waste hours of time. I invested in this course so that I would not have to do exactly what it has forced me to do, what a WASTE.Boot Camp Team of UCF Boot Camps
Community Team
Sep 24, 2020
Thank you for your feedback. We regret to hear you were unsatisfied with your boot camp experience.
We understand the program's pace can be challenging as it was designed to cover a great deal of knowledge in a limited amount of time. The curriculum is introduced at a higher level and individuals are expected to continue building on that knowledge outside of class. Like you mentioned, we strive to communicate to prospective applicants and participants alike the level of dedication and time commitment required, with successful students spending a minimum of 20-30 hours or more per week outside of the classroom on projects and additional learning (depending on each person's proficiency).
Not only do we strive to equip individuals with a robust academic framework, but we also work hard to help learners develop strong problem-solving and self-teaching abilities through internet research and other available resources: two qualities necessary in any real-world role. From your review, we understand that you did not feel this learning approach was sufficiently beneficial for you and we appreciate your feedback as we're constantly optimizing our curriculum and program offerings.
It's our goal for all students to leave the boot camp feeling equipped with the skills they need to succeed. We would love the opportunity to speak with you directly to learn how else we can assist you at this time. If you would like, please reach out to us at (407) 454-9823. -
Anonymous
Save your money, and use google.
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I joined this course due to my background in analytics. The job market wanted me to know a few variations of the 10 offered in this course. I was excited to jump in and had high hopes.
The first two weeks are lovely. There is a great lecture on data science and the world of data, you learn things you never knew about excel (even for the advanced excel folk like me), and then into VBA. That is the place in the curriculum where you have to make the choice whether or not to withdraw from the class or not for your refund. That is where the first red flag was for me. I made it clear I had zero experience with development and coding during my phone interview, and I was told that was fine. This is not fine. This is not a course for someone who has zero experience with either. After that withdraw period, you learn things that are nothing like excel or VBA, and I felt I wasn't given a fair preview of what I would be learning the rest of that course.
There was not any communication prior to class on the structure of the course. We have class 3x a week for 3 hours, plus an assignment due weekly. Each assignment took me roughly 8-10 hours to do. That doesn't include the time I reviewed class material, (which was needed due to the fast pace of class), time with the tutor, or the time I spent practicing on my own. When I broke it down, I dedicated 40-50 hours a week to this boot camp, I was only told that 3 classes a week and 15 hours were "on average" required (which would have been 30 hours).
The TA's and instructors are SO INCREDIBLY HELPFUL. Willing to help with anything. However, with the help, a tutor, and dedicating all extra hours to outside course work, I still was struggling. With all that said, I cannot even begin to tell you how many times in class we were told to google code, google how to fix things, or google troubleshooting.
Up until the very end, many students I spoke with after class regretted signing up and it was not as advertised. Wishing they would have learned it on their own.
In the end, I dropped this course. I felt as if I could have learned all of this in one year, via independent study with Google and Youtube, create a polished GitHub portfolio, and secure a data job without a certificate. This was even suggested during my research of this Bootcamp, and I should have listened. Most job requirements in this field do not require the certificate, just that you have knowledge or can show you have that skill.
Boot Camp Team of UCF Boot Camps
Community Team
Dec 12, 2019
Thank you for taking the time to leave us your review. We're happy to hear you enjoyed the initial portion of the program and found our instructional team to be helpful, but we regret that the overall course material and pace were not what you were expecting.
Our boot camp serves a mix of individuals ranging from beginners to professionals, and many of our learners do enter the boot camp with no prior experience in certain topics. We cover a great deal of material in a limited amount of time and understand that this is a challenging and rigorous course, true to its boot camp name. As such we do our best to communicate to prospective applicants and students alike the level of dedication and time commitment required, with successful students spending a minimum of 20-30 hours or more per week outside of the classroom on projects and additional learning (depending on each person's proficiency). From your review, we understand that you felt you were not fully aware of the time commitment and rigor.
Like you mentioned, the curriculum is introduced at a higher level in-class and individuals are expected to continue building on that knowledge outside of class. As the curriculum progresses, we've found this methodology to be useful and seen that students not only become increasingly confident in their knowledge but also gain essential problem-solving and self-teaching skills—two essential qualities necessary in any real-world role. We're glad you were able to utilize our available student support resources, including in-person/virtual office hours and 1:1 tutoring.
We sincerely regret you did not move forward with the course and would like the opportunity to personally speak with you in order to determine what additional support we can provide you with at this time. If you would like, please reach out to us directly at (407) 454-9823. -
Anonymous
Review from someone who originally wanted to sign up
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The more there is a mixture between good and bad reviews the more you can verify they are not fabricated and genuine. Now I don’t necessarily want to say my review is one star but I had to catch people’s attention who wanted to apply to this program like me.I figured I’d write this review out of concern from a red flag recieved. First off, I want to say I can start a company called Starbucks sucks ass that serves coffee and can legally get away with that.My family got in contact with the associate dean of ucf. The dean said that he’s never heard of ucf coding boot camp. So just keep that in mind people. At first Joel from the data camp made me interested. But there was a lot of questions not exactly answered. I then talked to Susan h(won’t mention last name for privacy ). After talking with her the way she pitched it made it sound like a for profit useless degree like full sail, a college I attended. Their career service department sounds like it doesn’t have connections and uses google to find leads that you can find on your own. I am in a crossroads between this and finishing my second 4 year. Sorry for the bad review but just putting out my 2 cents. I can graduate from ucf with my comp sci major and start a start up like this company. I can slightly alter the name from the college and allude people that it’s assocated with ucf.
Boot Camp Team of UCF Boot Camps
Community Team
Jul 12, 2019
Thank you for your feedback. Like you noted, the UCF Division of Continuing Education has partnered with Trilogy Education Services (TES) to offer the UCF Coding Boot Camp. UCF is deeply involved in the curriculum, instructor selection, and outcomes of each of our classes, and routinely meet in conjunction with TES to monitor the learning experience and performance. Both UCF and TES are completely dedicated to transforming students' lives and aim to be fully transparent about this relationship throughout the admissions process and course.
Our admissions advisors strive to provide a comprehensive application process, beginning with an initial phone interview, followed by a timed, academic test and final critical thinking interview. During this time, we encourage interested participants to ask any and all relevant questions. We're continually optimizing our program experience, so we appreciate your insight.
While we do not secure direct employment for our students, our career services are built on the principle of empowerment and provide more than 75 hours of professional development, consisting of resume and portfolio reviews, virtual tech panels, technical interview training, and 1:1 meetings with their Career Director.
We continually strive to make sure participants feel supported every step of the way. We would love to speak to you personally to see if there is anything else we can do at this time. If you would like, please reach out to us at (407) 454-9823.